Last Friday the 19th, health authorities in the United States identified an atypical case mad cow disease on a cow at a slaughterhouse in the state of South Carolina.
In a statement, the US Department of Agriculture said the animal in question was never intended for human consumption and at no time posed a threat to the food supply or public health in the United States. The aim of this timely detection and action by the authorities is to ensure food safety and protect the health of the population.
According to the agency, the United States has a “negligible risk status” for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), also known as “mad cow disease,” as the neurological disease is officially known. The agency also stated that it does not anticipate any commercial impact from this discovery.
Atypical case of mad cow disease discovered in the US
The condition is linked to the deadly form of CreutzfeldtJakob disease in humans when contaminated human meat is consumed. The atypical BSE variant occurs sporadically in older cattle without a direct link to the feeding of infected animals with meat and bone meal, as is the case with the classic form of the disease.
It is fair to say that this is the seventh time that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been detected in the United States in the last 20 years, with most of these cases, with the exception of one, being of the atypical form of the disease.
Authorities point out that previous BSE cases in several countries such as the United States, Canada, Israel, Europe and Japan have historically disrupted global food trade with significant economic impacts worth billions of dollars.
Despite the new discovery of the disease, they are confident that it will not change the United States’ negligible risk trade status.